IRS 2011 Q1: Siasat, The Munsif gain at the cost of Urdu Times

Urdu Times, which was the second most read Urdu daily in 2010 Q1, has lost over 54 per cent average issue readers in one year. As per IRS 2011 Q1 figures, the daily has reported an AIR (Average Issue Readership) of 53,000 as compared to 1.16 lakh last year.

Urdu Times’ loss is Siasat and The Munsif's gain, both recording double digit growth. While, last year, both the dailies were running neck to neck with an AIR of 1.1 lakh each, the former, this year, has taken a leap ahead recording an AIR of 1.4 lakh (+27.6 per cent) as against 1.27 lakh (+15.45 per cent) of The Munsif. However, even after a loss of 8.06 per cent, Inquilab remains the leader amongst Urdu dailies with an AIR of 1.71 lakh.

The good news for the language is that while dailies may have switched loyalties -tumbling down figures for some publications, ‘Any Urdu’ daily has recorded a marginal growth of 0.43 per cent, taking the AIR figure up to 4.68 lakh in 2011 Q1 over 2010 Q1.